What I'd like to talk about is some thoughts I had recently after coming across a petition urging the Electoral Congress to reject Trump as the president elect (as is their right to do).
Firstly, I didn't sign it, despite my feelings about Trump.
I'm not going to make any apologies for him; I think he's only gone down in my estimation as his campaign has progressed. One good argument I thought of and heard for not signing that petition is the fact I'm not a US citizen or resident in any way. (I have no objection to other people who aren't either of those signing it as a country's president affects more than its own citizens, but it is a reason which can be enough for some.)
What I'd like to talk about is my reason for not signing the petition. Namely, I worry that the Electoral College overturning the election results at this point would be far more catastrophic for the USA and, likely, the world, than them upholding them. And yes, I say that as someone who never even wanted to imagine Trump being a Republican nominee, let alone anything more.
But, as many people have pointed out, the election results highlight a significant divide in the US population. And while I'm pretty confident which side of the divide I would sit in, were I a voter, I'm also pretty confident that so are a huge percentage of the actual voters on both sides. I obviously disagree with half of them, but that is equally clearly not sufficient to change their minds (why would it be?!).
My worry is that, should the Electoral College exercise their right now to decline Trump as the president elect (for one of the many valid reasons they could cite from his populist rhetoric, complete lack of relevant experience or knowledge, terrifying conflicts of interest, stubborn unwillingness to follow established rules and protocol for his role, etc.), that will only inflame that divide.
And this is another reason I am very angry with Donald Trump and his campaign as he basically ensured that this would be the case. Had he won the popular vote, but not the election, I expect the USA would've had to deal with riots, violence and even more hate crime than the post-election surge or the peaceful protests they actually had. But I think it would've died down soon enough, it would have been manageable, if hard. Now, however, if all of those same angry, disenfranchised-feeling people are told that "yes, they may have won the election, but the politicians up top are going to go against their vote", I worry the damage will just be too much. And even if that damage somehow, miraculously, remains entirely on US soil... Even if all it does is collapse it from the inside... There is no such thing these days as a standalone state. And I do believe the implosion and collapse of the USA will hurt everyone.
So when I see articles like this one:
Electoral College must reject Trump unless he sells his business, top lawyers for Bush and Obama say
I keep being torn between "Yeah, I'd love that, I'm so glad there's such a solid reason!" and "Crap, I think that will actually do more damage than good."
